Folau deal sewn up as Wallabies stare down All Blacks

Tokyo: Wallabies fans can rest easy. Australia will go to the Rugby World Cup with Israel Folau after the dual international put pen to paper on a four-year deal.

Fairfax Media understands the contract has been signed for some time but Rugby Australia and the Waratahs decided to delay the announcement. It means Folau will play in Australia until the end of 2022.

Staying put: Israel Folau.Credit:AAP

It is a big coup for both organisations, who straddled divided public opinion and a defiant Folau to get the deal done some six months after his anti-gay comments caused a social media firestorm.

Negotiations were well underway on the fullback's contract at the time but the saga, sparked by an Instagram comment while Folau was sidelined by injury in April, put them on the back burner for most of the Super Rugby season.

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But after one of his most electric years yet in a Waratahs jersey, the 69-Test fullback has recommitted to NSW and Australia for a seventh season in rugby.

He is the latest player to re-commit beyond next year's World Cup, with Rugby Australia recently locking in Test captain Michael Hooper and gun young tighthead prop Allan Alaalatoa on unprecedented five-year deals.

David Pocock and Kurtley Beale are off contract at the end of the World Cup, as well as Bernard Foley, who re-signed for 12 months only earlier this month. Jack Dempsey and Ned Hanigan are also off contract next year.

The deal is also a major vote of confidence for the Waratahs, who managed to fend off interest from Queensland to keep their decorated fullback.

He was awarded the Matt Burke Cup at the Waratahs awards this year, breaking captain Michael Hooper's four-year stranglehold on the player-voted accolade. It was a massive endorsement given he missed a raft of games with a hamstring injury and also put the club and his team mates in hot water with his social media comments.

It's an area in which he has only grown in confidence. Feeds once dominated by a plethora of sponsors' products are now dominated by biblical extracts and fire and brimstone religious proclamations, including one gory representation of the crucifixtion set to a dark sermon declaring "whatever goes to hell, stays in hell".

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Crucially, he has avoided the topic of homosexuality, but regularly warns against "lukewarm Christians", and the spiritual dangers of extra-marital sex, alcohol, drugs and gambling. It is the result of a delicate negotiation with RA and the Waratahs, who asked him to keep his comments respectful after incurring the wrath of fans and sponsors in April.

Folau is in Tokyo with the Wallabies and will appear at a sponsor's event on Wednesday in the lead up to the Bledisloe Cup Test against New Zealand.

A versatile outside back, who has started the past three Tests on the wing, he now looks likely to be moved to outside centre for Saturday.

A broken ankle ruled out regular No.13 Reece Hodge and while Hodge's predecessor, Samu Kerevi, has re-joined the Wallabies after surgeries on a torn bicep and wrist tendon, it seems unlikely he would be rushed into a starting spot on just two appearances at the Byron Bay Sevens.

Given Folau pops up in the midfield in certain plays for the Wallabies and has moonlighted there for the Waratahs, it makes him the most likely choice. Coach Michael Cheika also has a comparative glut of outside back options on tour, including Jack Maddocks, Dane Haylett-Petty, Tom Banks, Marika Koroibete, Sefa Naivalu and Kurtley Beale.

Kerevi confirmed as much on Tuesday, conceding his 28 minutes of rugby in Byron Bay gave him confidence but only so much.

"Game fitness is something different. You can train it all you want but when it comes to the game it's a lot different," he said. "But I'll back myself to play a solid 30 minutes and see where I go from there, if the legs keeping going over. Hopefully if I get the opportunity this week or next week, whenever it comes, I'll take it with both hands."